Sony's MLB 06: The Show is a great baseball game but it may be overshadowed by 2K Sports' and Visual Concepts' Major League Baseball 2K6. The latest editions of the acclaimed series look quite impressive, but it's the Xbox 360 version that has me really excited. I recently stepped up to the plate and spent some time putting this next generation baseball videogame through its paces, and while its developers still have to do some tweaking to ensure that it provides a quality gameplay experience, what I saw was enough to whet my appetite.

Gameplay is all well and good, but it was the graphics that I wanted to see first, and thankfully, Visual Concepts didn't disappoint me. Major League Baseball 2K6, while it's not the most realistic looking sports title on the market, is still pretty damn incredible looking. All of the stadiums have been wonderfully modeled right down to individual blades of grass, but there are two unique features that have me the most excited.

The first is the fully polygonal crowd. Each stadium has been packed with about 35,000 fans that are always in a constant state of movement. Furthermore, you'll actually see them go after foul balls as well as vendors walking up and down the aisles. None of it's going to distract you while batting because from a distance they're still this huge, shifting mass, but they're still fun to see, especially up close. They're just superior to the crowd in NBA 2K6, and hopefully, an enhanced version of these fans will find their way into NBA 2K7 as well as the rest of 2K Sports lineup.

The second most interesting environmental feature is the day/night cycle. As the game wears on so does the world, so in some cases you'll begin a game in the afternoon, and over time, the sunlight will shift, clouds will roll across the sky, casting various shadows in real time, and then the sun will set. It's just a cool effect that goes a long way to enhancing the game's realism.

As for the character models, they look great for the most part. Superstar players such as cover boy Derek Jeter as well as other familiar faces look almost photo realistic, yet the lesser known players are at times a bit harder to identify. But they've all been built to scale and animate wonderfully. Plus, they'll pick up dirt as they slide into bases. That's not exactly a new feature in baseball games, but it's certainly nice to see, especially in high definition.

Now of course, just because the game looks good doesn't mean that it's enjoyable to play, but unlike EA's NBA Live 06 for the 360, Major League Baseball plays as good as it looks. However, it took me some time to get used to its gameplay, especially the pitching mechanics, which aren't what I've been used to. Basically, you're more concerned with where a pitch breaks rather than pinpointing a batter's hot/cold zone. That info does come into play if you want to take things to the next level, but what'll happen is, the catcher will call for a pitch, and then you'll make a decision on which pitch you want to throw and attempt to guess where the pitch will break so you can get the ball into the catcher's glove. And this all unfolds in a cool behind the pitcher perspective that's reminiscent of the classic baseball games for NES and Sega Genesis (however, when playing against another person, you'll have the more traditional batter's view).

The developers have also put snap throws into the game. At certain points during play, you can engage a first person perspective so that you'll see the field from inside of the catcher's mask, and then you can fire the ball at a specific base. It looks really cool, but I didn't have an opportunity to actually play while in this view, so I cannot tell you how effective it actually is.

When it comes to offense, it's all about the Swing Stick. I wouldn't be surprised if Visual Concepts allows the player to just tap a button to swing the bat, but for the most part, 2K Sports is really pushing this new feature. All you have to do (it's not that easy), is bring the bat back by pressing down on the Right Analog Stick and then following through with your swing by rapidly pressing up on the same stick. It's a lot more complex than that, but that's the basic gist of what you're supposed to do. However, its not something that I think is easily accessible from the get go. There definitely is a learning curve and it took me a little while to get the hang of things. While in Home Run Derby I began strong and was blasting balls out of the park, but then I hit a dangerous lull where I didn't get any hits for several moments.

It's also worth noting that Major League Baseball 2K6 comes with plenty of cut scenes that are similar to Sony's The Show, so expect scenes of guys celebrating or throwing tantrums. But what are especially cool are the arguing mini games. At certain points during play, a manager will storm the field and get into an umpire's face, and in order to keep from being thrown out while at the same time raising team morale, you have to mash various buttons.

I'm also intrigued by the Inside Edge reports. 2K Sports went out and signed a deal with Inside Edge, a scouting firm that tracks even the most bizarre baseball stats, and armed with three years of player information, the developers have programmed the players to play exactly like their real life counterparts. But what's more important is the ability to actually purchase reports on certain teams, and when you do this, your players will adjust their games accordingly, so if a batter's average has gone to crap over the years, your players will make the necessary adjustments when that player comes to the plate.

Outside of the standard exhibition matches and playing a full season there's also various multiplayer modes. The Xbox 360 version supports head to head, but not leagues, which are present in the Xbox and PS2 iterations.

Thus far, Major League Baseball 2K6 is a fun and exciting title that may become the benchmark by which all other baseball games are judged, but we're going to reserve final judgment until the game is shipped on April 24.